(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water filter device having a filter head with filter head components, a replaceable filter candle with filter candle components and an encoding structure disposed between the filter head and a replaceable filter candle component.
(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 C.F.R. 1.97 and 1.98
In order to the treat drinking water in private households and in the catering trade, it is known to use water filters as a central or decentralized installation for feeding extraction points and specifically for feeding modern kitchen appliances, for example coffee machines, taps and ice makers (for example in modern refrigerators), and furthermore in the commercial sector for feeding beverage machines for providing cold and hot beverages, dishwashers and steam cookers for the purpose of optimizing the taste of the beverages and food treated or prepared with said water, and for protecting the machines against water-related technical problems.
In general, such water filter devices comprise a filter head and filter head components associated with said filter head and also a replaceable filter candle with filter candle components which are associated with said filter candle. In order to prevent combination of filter heads and filter candles which do not match or are not intended for one another, it is possible, for example, to provide an encoding arrangement between two such units.
In this respect, the prior art provides, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,458,269 B1 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,949,189 B2.